Holly and Ned sat down along the slope beside the drain pipe, looking
intently at the grizzled man who lounged on the pipe in front of them. He wore
a small, faded green kufi on his head, hiding his graying hair underneath it.
His face was crinkled with age, and his kind eyes glowed warmly out of the dim
surroundings. He held his hands in his lap, moving them expressively as he
spoke softly. His dark, rich voice echoed below the bridge as he told his
tale.

“Well, like I was sayin’, me and Darryl was good friends. We tried to stick
together, you know, have each other’s back. ‘Course it wasn’t always that way.
Fact is, when we first met, we didn’t much care for each other at all.

“You see, we first met when I tried to work his part of State Ave. one day.
I hadn’t been doing too well on my old strip, so I thought I’d move up further
north and see if I could do any better.

“The week before, I’d managed to come across some tools at a construction
site and had nabbed a squeegee there, so not only was I imposin’ on Darryl’s
section of the street, I was also doing the exact gig he was. Not to mention,
I was just learnin’ the trade, you know, and I hadn’t really had a chance to
hone my technique. So I wasn’t doin’ the best job of cleain’ the windows,
‘specially compared to Darryl.

“It was all right the first few days, since we didn’t run into each other. A
couple of guys had told me that Darryl normally squeegeed that section of the
street, but to be honest, I didn’t care. I was just trying to eke by, know
what I mean?

“But eventually, Darryl and I ran into each other. He had been hearin’ stuff
about another guy down on his street ruinin’ his reputation and all, so when
he finally saw me, he wasn’t to pleased. But if you know Darryl, he wadn’t one
to get real angry and up in your face about somethin’. So he stopped me later
that afternoon after most people had cleared the street ad I was headin’ home,
and he simply asked me to move either further north or further south.

“He explained that he’d been workin’ that partickler section of the street
for some time, and that he had reputation that he’d built, and it just
wouldn’t work to have two guys tryin’ to squeegee the same section. He
explained that it made more sense for us to split up ‘cause we’d be able to
have more customers.

“Wal, what he said made sense, but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. And him
bein’ so friendly about everything, I didn’t take him seriously. So I told him
he could shove it and I just kept on goin’, doin’ what I always did.

“Next day, Darryl came up and said basically the same thing, askin’ me to
move on north or south again. And again, I told him the same thing. But he was
a persistent bastard, and every day he came up to me, polite as the last time,
and explained the situation again.

“Eventually, it got to the point where I was considerin’ movin’ on just so I
wouldn’t have to listen to his lecture every day. I started tryin’ to avoid
him during the day, but he usually found me.

“One day, I had had it partickly rough, and there he was, comin’ on to ask
be to move on, and I just lost it. I let him have it. We got into a bit of a
scuffle, and Darryl, bein’ as mild-mannered and small as he was, didn’t put up
much of a fight. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hurt him real bad or
nothin’, but I did pound on him a bit.

“It made me feel a lot better, and I thought that he’d finally get the
picture that I wasn’t plannin’ on goin’ anywhere, but the next day, he found
me again and started talkin’ to me.

“This time, though, he’d changed his tactics. He said that if I wasn’t
movin’ on, the least I could do was stop ruinin’ his reputation. So he offered
to teach me how to do a better job with the squeegee. I could hardly believe
my ears. I mean, I’d just hit him up the day before – he still had a bruise on
his face from where I’d let him have it.

“But as usual, it was a genuine offer, so I spent that day workin’ with him,
learnin’ his technique and listenin’ to him ramble on about his experiences
and whatnot. Man, he liked to talk.” He paused, smiling and shaking his head.

“I mean, Darryl’d talk and talk and talk – didn’t matter if no one was
listenin’. He just liked to talk. But anyway, that night he invited me back
here, to this bridge, with him, and we spent the rest of the night talkin’
‘bout everything under the sun.

“And that was really all it took. We started workin’ together every day, and
he taught me a lot. And he and I just became real good friends. I don’t really
know why. By all accounts, we really shoulda still hated each other. We were
very different people, but somehow we ended up makin’ it work.

“Eventually he and I agreed to stop workin’ together. It really made the
most sense, since we could cover twice as much area in the same amount of
time. He finally got his way, I guess – I moved on up a lit further north and
he stayed working his area, but we would get together here at the end of the
day, and share whatever we had. Sometimes he had a good day, sometimes I did,
most times neither of us did, but we shared everything and we ended up all
right I guess.

“As time went on, me and him didn’t talk as much as we had, and he started
spending more time at the shelter, I guess. I never much cared for places like
that, though he told me St. Ives was diff’rent. Anyway, when we started
hearin’ all the stories ‘bout people disappearin’, we decided we’d better
start stickin’ together again. It just made sense. So we started workin’
together again, and we did all right.

“But one night, Darryl decided he wanted to go to the shelter for a meal,
and when I told him I really didn’t want to go, he just left without me. I
didn’t seem him until really late the next day. I figgered he’d just ended up
stayin’ the night there or somethin’, but when he came back he was all beat
up. He’d stopped by St. Ives ad I guess got cleaned up, but he looked
terrible. He was limpin’, cuts and bruises all over his body – he was a wreck.

“He wasn’t talkin’ much either, and I knew better than to press him to tell
me what had happened. So we just kept on doin’ what we always did for the next
few days. I figgered he’d tell me when he was ready. And finally, about a week
after it had happened, he did.”

James paused and leaned forward, lowering his voice substantially. “Now,
there were two cops snoopin’ around here earlier today, askin’ about him and
showin’ pictures and whatnot, but I didn’t tell ‘em anything.” Holly and Ned
glanced at each other as James frowned. So Ames and Cobb had been by.

“I don’t like cops – don’t trust ‘em. Anyway, you have to understand, I’m
takin’ a big risk tellin’ you this, just like Darryl took a risk by tellin’
me, but people need to know. Maybe then somethin’ can be done.”

He paused again, drawing Ned and Holly in closer before continuing at an
even lower volume. “Darryl told me, that as he was walkin’ to St. Ives, that a
man had pulled over on the street – he couldn’t remember exactly where – and
started talkin’ to him. He had said he recognized Darryl from a time when he’d
cleaned the windshield of his car, and he just wanted to compliment him on the
job.

“He gave Darryl a twenty dollar bill, and then asked him if he wanted to
make a lot more. He told Darryl that it was a really simple thing he needed
done, and that if Darryl was willing there could be a lot of money in it.

“Darryl wasn’t one to believe in these get-rich-quick schemes, but he told
me that the man seemed so sincere – so honest and friendly. So Darryl accepted
the offer and had accepted a ride in the man’s car. He didn’t know where they
had gone. He said they had driven for quite awhile.

“They arrived at some warehouse or somethin’, and the man had led Darryl
into this huge empty room. Then, while Darryl waited, a whole bunch of men
started coming in and standing around the inner walls of the room. Darryl said
at least 30 to 40 men had come in, and they just stood around, not talkin’ to
him or anything, just stayin’ quiet with these serious expressions on their
faces, like they were anticipatin’ somethin’ exciting. Most of ‘em were
wearin’ suits or sports jackets, Darryl had said, and they all seemed to be
businessmen or somethin’ judgin’ from what they were wearin’.

“Then the man who had picked Daryl up walked in and started talkin’. ‘Well
gentlemen, tonight we have a man named Darryl. He works down on State Ave. ,
where many of you work, and squeegees your windows for loose change… I think
a lot of you are familiar with him.’ A lot of the men standing around let out
a whoop, and the man smiled. ‘Well, I think you all know how this works, so
who’s first tonight?’ A bunch of men raised their hands, and the man pointed
to one in the back of the room. ‘OK, looks like you’re our lucky guy tonight.
Make us proud.’ The man who’d picked Darryl up stepped out with the other men,
and the one he’d pointed out stepped into the center of the circle with
Darryl. Darryl didn’t know what was happenin’.

“The man took his shirt off and ran towards Darryl, and hit him square in
the face, knocking him to the ground. He waited for Darryl to get back up,
then hit him again. Darryl tried to get up and run away, or out of the room,
but the men in the circle would grab him and throw him back in.

“I asked ‘im if he tried to fight back, and he said he did, but there were
too many of ‘em. As soon as he got a good shot in, somebody else would step
into the circle and beat him even harder. By the end of the night, he said he
was just layin’ on the floor, blood leakin’ out of him, prayin’ that’d all be
over soon. He passed out while they were still beatin’ on him.”

Holly felt like she was going to be sick. She had experienced her share of
violence, but this beating that James spoke of sounded almost sports-like. Who
were all these men? Did they really get off on beating a defenseless homeless
man nearly to death?

James noticed his audience’s discomfort and broke off his more detailed
description that Darryl had given him. His voice was still low and he looked
around nervously, searching for anyone that might be listening in
surreptitiously. Satisfied that all was clear, he continued.

“Anyway, Darryl came to after the man who’d picked him up splashed some
water on his face. They threw him back into the car and drove him back to the
street where they’d picked him up. Before they dropped him off, the man said,
‘Darryl, I hope you understand that if you tell anyone about this, and I mean
anyone,’ – he was very clear on this point – ‘I’m gonna hunt you down and kill
not only you, but every single person that you told.’ Darryl believed
him. He said there was somethin’ in his eyes that told him he was serious.

That’s why Darryl wouldn’t tell nobody – and that’s why I’ve been careful
m’self. But there comes a time when this kinda things got to be exposed, and
maybe y’all can do it.”

James sat back on the pipe and sighed heavily. He was pleased to finally
tell someone Darryl’s story, but worried too – now these fine people, friends
of Darryl’s, also had the burden of Darryl’s experience? There was little
doubt in James’ mind that the man responsible for Darryl’s abduction and
beating was also responsible for his death. Would he also now harm these
people, and James himself?

Holly and Ned looked at each other. They also understood the magnitude of
the situation. It seemed their quest for answers had yielded some, but also
created more questions.